Acceptance
by Archer-in-Disguise
Summary: The holidays were a time of reconciliation. Calypso and Percy meet again. Set after the Giant War.


**Hey guys! Happy New Year. Sorry if I went MIA lately. I just have other things to do and I really couldn't find time to write something worthy of the Fanfiction community. Anyways, enjoy.  
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Calypso shifted uncomfortably on her seat inside the quaint Jackson apartment. Festivities were something she was quite unaware of. She hadn't quite been celebrating any sort of holiday when she still lived in Ogygia and, frankly, she was much too miserable to care. Now that her curse was lifted, she had a lot of catching up to do with the world. Change was such an endearing entity. She could not count how many things she marveled at the moment she soared the landscape on Festus' back, clutching on to Leo's waist for dear life. She'd rather stay above ground than force herself into conversations with the one man she truly loved.

Percy Jackson was seated across from her, adorably stuffing blue cookies in his mouth until his cheeks were stretched to their limit. She wanted to hate him, wanted to kick him to the ground and scream at him for leaving her there, for breaking his promise to her. She burned for the moment she would see him again and get the hurting that he deserved. Yet, she could not do it. Seeing him again, it was like reliving a dream she never wanted to wake up from. He was there, still the same goofy, caring, fun-loving man that he was. He grew, but then again, she did too. He looked stronger, older, more worn. He reminded her of the other demigods she encountered in her lifetime, with healing scars on his arms and deep, knowing eyes that held a history of pain and loss.

He would smile at her, never quite meeting her eye but it was a smile nonetheless. She unwillingly felt a familiar, lingering heat in the pit of her stomach. She hated him but she didn't at the same time. Leo had told her what had happened to him and the sacrifices he made for the world. It didn't make her feel any better. She was selfish that way. If Percy ever truly did care about her at some point in his life, he would have cared enough to take her away from that cursed island. He didn't though and she only wanted to know why.

At the rare moment he was alone, she approached him. "Why?" She asked, her voice low and sorrowful. He didn't have to ask what she meant. She could already see the regret in his gorgeous sea-green eyes.

"I don't want to make excuses." He had told her honestly, fiddling with an empty cupcake case that only allowed crumbs to fall to the rug. "This would sound stupid to you and you'll probably hate me even more but, well, I didn't try hard enough." He was holding something back. She could sense it.

Her mind went blank and the next thing she saw was Percy's head snapped to the right and her hand raised in what had been a slap. He turned to face her again, not angry, just sad. "I deserve that." He breathed out with a slight smile. "I deserve more than that. I promised you something that someone else fulfilled. I hate myself for that, more than you could possibly hate me, Calypso. I can't even count how many nights the guilt stole from me."

He inhaled and, for the first time that night, stared her deep in the eye. She was intimidated by the passionate emotions stowed in the recesses of his mind. "When the war ended, I held the gods in a promise to get you out of that island as soon as they could. I didn't have time to make sure that you did because, the next thing I know, I was asleep for six months and when I finally woke up, I didn't remember anything about myself. Then I was forced into a quest, then into another war. Until, Leo found you earlier than I did. I guess I was too late." He released a humorless laugh. "I know you would never forgive me, I would expect that much. You told me once that the Fates are cruel. I didn't try hard enough to battle against it."

He looked away, at a girl she remembered to be Annabeth. Ever since he came to her island, mumbling her name in his sleep, she always wanted to put a face on the person that haunted his dreams. She now understands why he had fallen for her, hard. Maybe she was the reason why he didn't come back but Calypso hated assuming. "I know about that curse you directed to me." He had told her after a few minutes, his expression serious. "I shouldn't have been surprised but I was. Did you hate me that much?"

She remembered what that specific curse was. She wanted Percy to suffer her loss, to feel the pain and emptiness of not being able to hold the person dearest to you. His eyes looked pained, as if remembering the exact moment he had realized what she had done to him. "Yes… no. I don't know, Percy. I felt abandoned. You left me for dead. You had me hope that I could escape that place, that you would sweep me off my feet and we could ride off into the sunset. I was angry and I wasn't thinking, but I never could hate you."

"I did, for a while." He admitted, "Your curse… it changed the way I looked at things. I've been abandoning people all my life, breaking promises when I know that I had a chance at fulfilling them. What you did though, you put me through more pain than you can imagine. You put _her_ through it. You involved Annabeth in something she had nothing to do with. I accept that you want to kick me to the ground the moment you lay your hands on me but I couldn't bear to see her calling for me and I just can't reach her."

All pent up rage she stored inside of her the past two years had her raising her hand to slap him again. He caught her wrist before it could meet his face. "You weren't alone, Calypso. Whatever you were feeling then, whatever you're feeling now… I've felt it. I've spent night after night thinking about what would have happened if I was the one who saved you. Would we have ended up together? Would you have left me the moment you escaped Ogygia? I wouldn't know because it didn't happen." He sighed and released his grip, "I do care about you, even if you don't think I do. I just…" He didn't finish his sentence, his gaze lingering back to the beautiful blonde laughing with Piper and Hazel by the Christmas tree.

She felt her shoulders slumping in defeat. She forced a smile, "Love somebody else." She completed, whatever hope that was left in her heart drifting away when he nodded in response.

"And you do, too." He returned as he gestured to Leo goofing off in the kitchen. "Leo's a good guy. You deserve someone better than me."

He positioned himself to stand but her hand held him back. "If you had stayed with me…"

"You wouldn't have met him." He stated simply. "The Fates may be cruel but they're also wise. You and I weren't meant for each other. I was just there so that you could meet the person you're supposed to be with." She had to take a few moments to comprehend his words. She spent her entire life hating the beings who controlled everything that happened to her. They took Percy from her so that he could be with Annabeth. In turn, they gave her Leo who loved her with the entirety of his being and saved her from her destiny.

He returned to staring off to Annabeth's direction. This time, she saw him looking and gave an enthusiastic wave. He did the same, his eyes filled with all the love in the world. "She makes you happy." She concluded her observation.

"She does." He replied simply. "I'm sorry."

For the first time in a long time, Calypso felt the weight of the sky being lifted from her shoulders. "I'm sorry, too."

They didn't say anything else. Percy stood and headed to the direction of his girlfriend, leaving her to her thoughts. He was never hers to begin with. She was foolish to think that he ever was. This entire time, he belonged to someone else and she does too. In the end, he turned out to be one of those heroes who came and left her life but he still held a special place in her heart.

Leo asked her how she was. She told him that she had never felt happier in her life.

When she excused herself to go to the bathroom, she passed by Percy's bedroom. Her eyes caught sight of a familiar flower blossoming by his window sill. Calypso smiled and walked away.


End file.
